


Skin Deep

by LdyAnne



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Challenge Response, Drama, Flash Fic, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-08
Updated: 2012-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-29 04:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/315989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LdyAnne/pseuds/LdyAnne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Men and Machines Challenge at SGA Flashfic.  Something's not quite right with John and it's up to Rodney to figure out what.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skin Deep

**Author's Note:**

> While there isn't any non-con in the story, there is the threat. I don't know if it's triggery, but if this is a concern, you might want to skip this one.

There wasn't a sound in the control room as Dr. Rodney McKay stood with his 9 mil leveled on Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. Rodney stood with his back to the gate, which was fortunate. It was probably the only thing that was holding him up. Sheppard just stood there blinking at Rodney like he was waiting for someone to shout 'April Fools' at them.

"Come on, McKay," Sheppard drawled, seemingly not at all worried that Rodney had a gun on him. "You don't want to do this."

Marines, the outgoing team, those assigned to work in the control room – everyone around them was frozen. No one dared move for fear that Rodney would be startled and pull the trigger by accident.

"That's where you're wrong, Sheppard," Rodney's voice shook, but his hand was steady.

There was a rustle of clothing and the sound of a foot sliding. Rodney swung the gun around in a frenzy.

"Don't fucking move," he shouted, fixing one of the marine's with a lethal stare. "The only one I'm going to be shooting is Sheppard, so everyone else stay out of this."

Kate Heightmeyer appeared on the balcony overlooking the gate room.

"Rodney, no," she cried down to him. "Don't do this."

"It's the only way, Kate," Rodney said determined turning the gun back to Sheppard. "I have to show you. I have to show all of you."

"McKay!" Rodney heard the growl from the hall and he knew that Ronon and Teyla had managed to get out of the room he'd locked them into. How, he didn't know, but his time was up.

"Sorry, Sheppard," he said as he pulled the trigger.

There was a roar in the room as everyone now moved at the same time, everyone rushing forward thinking that somehow, someway, they could keep that bullet from finding its target. But Rodney knew his physics. He knew how fast you had to move in order to stop a speeding bullet. And none of them were that fast. He just stood, numb to the core, watching as the bullet found its target and John Sheppard's body hit the ground.

~~~~~~

 _Three days before on M29-488..._

The team exited the 'gate onto a green and thriving world. The sky overhead was blue and the sun shone down gently upon them. The breeze was cool and there was a path straight from the gate that led to a picturesque village only a short walk away. All in all it looked like a perfect place.

"Why does this scare me?" Rodney wondered aloud as he peered down at the monitor that he'd pulled from his tac-vest.

"Because you have a highly developed sense of paranoia?" Sheppard drawled. But Rodney noticed how he swept the area around them with his alert gaze, how he kept his hand on his P-90.

"I have traded here before, Colonel," Teyla was quick to assure them. "I know the people here to be kind and generous."

"Yes, well that's what you said about the Genii, too," Rodney reminded her.

She scowled at him, not really appreciating the reminder of how much she had not known about the Genii. She moved ahead of them, making her way quickly down the path.

"Anything?" Sheppard moved in beside Rodney as they followed Teyla down the path. Ronon brought up the rear so Rodney felt safe enough for the moment.

He poked at his monitor, frowning. "There was something and then it just went away before I could figure out what it was."

"I'll bet it was a glitch," Ronon threw in from behind them.

"Oh, yes, because this highly specialized equipment is prone to..." Rodney turned to stare at Ronon. "Do you even know what a glitch is?"

Ronon shrugged, an economical movement of his shoulders that nevertheless conveyed he was more than equal to the task of squashing any one of them if he wanted to. "Heard one of the marines say it. Pretty cool word."

"Colonel," Rodney turned to follow Teyla once again. Sheppard fell into step beside him with Ronon once again bringing up the rear. "I think he's been spending too much time with the marines."

"You think?" Sheppard asked. He sighed, "Our little boy is growing up."

Rodney nearly swallowed his tongue, but he didn't answer. He kept his head down; hunting the elusive energy signature he'd been sure he'd seen.

They arrived at the village and were greeted enthusiastically by the locals. It was time for their noon time break and they invited the team to sit with them and eat. There was a long table where everyone sat, Rodney squeezed in between Sheppard and Teyla. They tasted everything surreptitiously for him and passed dished to him that they judged safe for him to eat.

He appreciated their thoughtfulness. He didn't want a repeat of the time he ate some breadfruit thing before waiting for someone to clear it first. He'd spent the next three days in the infirmary from the allergic reaction. Now he always waited for one of his team mates to hand him the food first.

The people were very friendly and asked them questions, telling them stories of their own. Lunch passed pleasantly.

It was all very peaceful, too peaceful. Rodney really did have a highly developed sense of paranoia and it was telling him that there was something here that they were missing. Nothing in the Pegasus Galaxy was this easy.

As the meal was coming to its end, one of the men across the table leaned forward eyeing the device in Rodney's hand curiously.

"What is that, friend, Rodney?" he asked.

Teyla had already finished eating and had gone to converse with the important looking people at the end of the table. Rodney shot a glance at Sheppard who was flirting with the woman sitting next to him. Ronon, sitting a few places down, was no help; he was completely absorbed in finishing whatever food was still in front of him.

"It's just ah... a device for measuring energy, you know the type that might come from something that's not man-made," Rodney answered him cautiously. Too many times discussions about technology ended badly. Either the natives wanted it and were willing to take it forcefully or they were afraid of it and they didn't want anything to do with it.

The man just nodded and smiled. "That would be a very useful device to have," he said agreeably. "Perhaps you would like to bring it to the ruins and use it there?" he smiled anxiously, as if afraid Rodney would turn him down.

"Ruins?" That *was* just the kind of thing that Rodney would like to do. It just all seemed a bit... convenient to Rodney. But no one else was hanging on their words; no one else was even listening to them. Rodney allowed himself to relax a little. Sure, ruins were going to be all over the Pegasus Galaxy and it was what they were there to find.

"Okay, yeah sure," he nodded to his new friend, "I'd like to see it."

The man across from him stood promptly. "My name is Jowen, friend Rodney, if you will come with me?"

"What now?" Rodney's voice rose in surprise.

"There is never a better time than now; there might not be a later." It sounded to Rodney like a wise bit of Pegasus wisdom.

Rodney nudged Sheppard who turned reluctantly from his lunch companion. "Yes?"

"I hate to interrupt your little tete e tete," Rodney hissed into his ear, "but our new friend," he waved a hand to indicate Jowen, "wants to show us some 'ruins'." He made quote marks in the air around the word.

Smiling a regretful goodbye to the woman, Sheppard shoved himself to his feet. "Well, why didn't you say so?" he asked.

"I thought I just did," Rodney snapped at him. He couldn't help it. The sheer peacefulness of the place was giving him the creeps.

Sheppard smirked at him and spoke to the man waiting for them patiently, "You'll have to excuse, McKay. He doesn't do peaceful well."

Jowen smiled and nodded like he understood.

Sheppard leaned over to Ronon and spoke to him quietly, "McKay and I are going to go check out some ruins. You keep an eye on things here."

Ronon just kept on eating, but he did nod. Whether it was in agreement to them or if he was flirting with the girl that Sheppard had just abandoned, Rodney couldn't tell.

Then they were following the friendly native down a path to the 'ruins.'

Jowen chattered the entire way there, "It is said that this was a place of the Ancients once but none has ever known what it was for. As long as my people have lived here, the ruins have stood as a reminder of what once was before the Wraith decimated our world."

They rounded a curve in the path and the 'ruins' were in front them. They were also very picturesque.

Definitely Ancient in design, the place looked like it had been abandoned for... well thousands of years. It was overgrown with vines and wildlife, but Rodney could see that the building underneath was solid. It was a long, square building with no windows and only one apparent way in that was buried behind trailing vines and leafy undergrowth.

The man stood back reverently and let the Lanteans take the lead.

"No one knows what this place is for?" Sheppard asked regarding the building through narrowed eyes.

"If we ever knew, that knowledge has long since been lost to my people," Jowen answered regretfully. He turned hopeful eyes from Rodney to Sheppard and back again. "Perhaps you can tell us what its purpose is?"

"That's why we're here," Rodney told him a little snappishly before moving in a little closer to pull the vines back. Sheppard snagged the back of his tac vest and pulled him away.

"Hey!" Rodney favored him with a scowl. It would have sent one of his minions scurrying away in terror. Sheppard just smirked at him.

"Not so fast, McKay," he said. He pulled out a knife and began to cut away the vines and brush. "You never know what kind of wild life you're going to encounter in this sort of growth. I'd hate to have to take you back to the infirmary to be treated for snake bite." He turned back to meet Rodney's gaze with a lifted eyebrow.

Rodney took another step back just to be safe. Sheppard had the growth cleared quickly and Rodney got his first look at the doorway.

"The writing certainly looks Ancienty," Rodney observed, mostly to himself.

"Ancienty? Is that really a word?" Sheppard asked with a smirk and a lift of his eyebrow.

"I'll have you know that's the proper technical term," Rodney answered stiffly. But inside he smiled. There were some certainties in his life: the Wraith were the scourge of the Pegasus galaxy, the Genii were bastards, and John Sheppard was always going to have a smart-ass answer, or question as the case may be. In many ways it was comforting.

There was a panel like most of the other Ancient facilities they'd discovered and when Rodney passed his hand over it the door slid open, clearly inviting them in. He looked over at Sheppard with a questioning tilt of his chin.

"Do we go in?" he asked.

Sheppard took in the facility, the eager native who looked like he was going to die of excitement right there, the blue sky overhead before he asked, "You got anything on your energy signature thingie?"

Rodney shook his head at Sheppard's downgrading his highly specialized equipment to a 'thingie.' He pulled it out and consulted it. "Nothing."

"Okay." Sheppard tapped his comm, "Teyla, Ronon, we've found some Ancienty ruin here McKay wants to poke around in. You guys okay?"

It was Teyla who answered, "Indeed, Colonel, all is well here. Would you like us to join you there?"

Yeah because they had a history of things not turning out as easy as they looked.

As if he read his mind, Sheppard grinned at Rodney. "Nah, I think we're good here. We'll call if we need you."

"Alright, John," she answered. "Be careful."

"We will," he said before tapping his radio off. Sheppard nodded at the still-open door. "Shall we?"

Rodney peered inside. The interior was dark and the bright noon-day sun didn't penetrate far. He backed away. "Uhm... aren't you supposed to go first? Being the muscle and all?"

"Aw, McKay," Sheppard teased, "I didn't think you cared." He flipped the light on his P-90 on and brought it up before taking a step into the dimly lit interior. Rodney followed closely behind.

"Why don't you uh... wait out here?" Rodney said to Jowen. "We'll yell once we've made sure it's secure."

The man's face fell in disappointment. But he nodded his agreement and stayed outside.

Inside the place smelled a little musty, like it had been closed up for a long, long time. But nothing like the lower levels of Atlantis that had endured flooding. It was kind of boring actually. There was only one the long hallway with tantalizingly closed doors on either side of it. They traversed the hallway quickly only to find on more door at the opposite that opened as they approached. The sun shone through to reveal an exit.

"Huh," Rodney said.

"Well, that was fun," was Sheppard's comment.

One of the doors to their left slid open then and Rodney exchanged a startled glance with Sheppard.

Sheppard shrugged, "Somehow I don't like doorways that open before we even ask them to."

Rodney tended to agree with him. "Maybe we should get some film of the writing over the door and come back after we find out what it says?"

Sheppard nodded his agreement. They ignored the invitingly open door and turned back the way they had come. It was then that the entire place lit up.

"Oh, this is so not good," Rodney moaned.

"You think?" Sheppard said trying to cover every possible direction trouble could come from, which was really anywhere. A bright light flashed down from the ceiling to complete envelope Sheppard.

Rodney blinked in terror and for one heart stopping moment it looked like the colonel was gone. Then, when Rodney tapped his radio to scream for back up, Sheppard was back and the light was gone. Once the light released him, Sheppard folded up and hit the floor hard.

"Teyla, Ronon, I need you here, now," Rodney finished his call for help before he dropped to his knees beside Sheppard's still form. He pressed trembling fingers to the colonel's throat and was relieved to find a nice strong heartbeat. Sheppard wasn't dead. At least not yet.

"We are on our way." Rodney appreciated that Teyla didn't waste time asking questions; he wasn't sure what he could tell her. He was comforted by the fact that they were coming. If only so that Ronon could carry Sheppard if he didn't regain consciousness soon.

But that seemed to be an unfounded worry, because after just a couple of minutes Sheppard stirred and opened his eyes slowly.

"What hit me?" he asked, frowning up at Rodney squinty eyed.

Rodney pushed him back when he tried to sit up. "Don't. You could have internal injuries... or a head injury, you fell pretty hard... and who knows what that beam did to you," he babbled as Sheppard pushed irritably at the arm holding him down.

"Beam?" Sheppard repeated just as Teyla and Ronon arrived with Jowen tagging along behind them.

"What are you doing in here?" Rodney demanded at the top of his voice. "It's dangerous in here. We could all be dead any minute."

"You called to us for help," Teyla reminded him in her most patient voice. They all knew that when Sheppard was injured Rodney was never at his best.

"Oh, yeah. Well we need to get out of here. There was a beam of light and it hit Sheppard..." his arms flew as he demonstrated what had happened. The colonel ducked as he was nearly hit by a flailing hand.

Teyla left Rodney for Ronon to take care of and she knelt down next to Sheppard.

"Are you injured, Colonel?"

"Nah, I'm fine," he told her, pushing himself up now that McKay had stopped pushing him down.

Her gaze swept over his body making her own assessment, she knew better than to take anything he said at face value. She must have arrived at a positive judgment of his condition as she stood and extended her hand to help him up. "Perhaps we should go then." She steadied him when he swayed.

"Fine?" she asked with a skeptical tilt to her head.

"Fine," he repeated firmly and took off on his own down the hall. Only to have Ronon catch him and turn him toward the proper exit.

"Oh, okay." He led their retreat from the building into the brightness of day. He blinked back at the rest of his team as they exited behind him. Rodney watched him, looking for any sign of lingering trauma or more injury than was readily apparent, but Sheppard really did look... fine, if a little pale and sweaty.

Still, they'd seen enough weird crap in the Pegasus Galaxy that it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"I think we should go home," Rodney announced as soon as they were all safely out of the Ancient death trap.

"What about your energy signature, whoosie whatsis?" Sheppard demanded.

"Colonel, we do not know what happened to you in there. Is it not better to be safe?" Rodney wanted to kiss Teyla for her support, but he didn't because she could cause severe damage to his person.

"Really, I'm fine," Sheppard insisted again despite the fact that he was swaying slightly where he stood.

"Perhaps you should go and be checked out by your own healer." Surprisingly Jowen added his voice in support, which made Rodney all kinds of suspicious. But what should he be suspicious of? The smiling solicitous man who seemed to have Sheppard's best interest at heart? Rodney knew that there was no good afoot, he just couldn't figure out what the devious underhanded plot was.

With a roll of his eyes, Sheppard agreed and they trudged back through the village to the 'gate.

Along the way, the story spread of how Sheppard had been 'touched' in the Ancient building. The people followed them like a parade, jockeying for a position where they could get closer to him. Sheppard frowned at them and slowly his team took up positions around him to protect him from the reaching, stroking hands.

They couldn't reach the gate soon enough for Rodney. Once there, the people stood back at a respectful distance, doing nothing to prevent their leaving. Rodney heaved a sigh of relief as the whole team walked through the gate and it finally closed behind them.

"That was weird," was Sheppard's observation.

"You can say that again," Rodney agreed with a heart felt sigh.

"That was weird," Sheppard repeated dead pan.

All three of his team members turned to stare at him. Then Rodney took an arm and started off in the direction of the infirmary.

"Really, I'm fine," Sheppard said again.

No one listened to him. They all knew that John Sheppard would say he was fine when he was lying on the ground bleeding out. They'd take Carson's word for it, which they got after several hours of tests and much bloodletting.

"Well, Colonel, I don't find anything wrong with ye," Carson said. Sheppard was sitting on the bed with his team clustered around them. Sheppard gave them all an 'I told you so' fish eye with satisfaction. "Everything comes back as satisfactory, so I'm going to let you go."

Sheppard hopped off the bed and was headed for the door before the doctor could even finish speaking. Carson caught his arm as he passed and stopped him, "BUT I'm going to take you off duty for the next few days. I do nae like it when you faint..."

Rodney cleared his throat loudly. Sheppard and Carson both turned to him.

"Faint?" he asked.

Carson just looked exasperated and Sheppard rolled his eyes, "All right fine then. I do nae like that you *passed out* for absolutely no reason. It wouldn't do to have that happen when you're piloting a jumper for instance."

Sheppard scowled and crossed his arms in disgust. "Come on, Carson, there's nothing wrong with me."

"And in three days if there's still nothing wrong with you, I'll let you go back on duty. But for now, you're confined to the city."

Sheppard left with a disgusted snort.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Rodney said as he ran after Sheppard.

~~~~~

They headed to the mess hall for dinner and it was there that Rodney got his first confirmation that everything was not as fine as Sheppard kept claiming.

"Can I have that?" Rodney asked, pointing his spoon at Sheppard's butterscotch pudding.

Without even making him work for it, Sheppard slid the pudding over to Rodney. Butterscotch was Sheppard's very favorite pudding. Usually he wouldn't give the stuff up for anything short of something cool that made a big boom or went really, really fast, but this time he just slid it over without even a comment.

As he dipped in his spoon and took the first bite (because you never wasted butterscotch pudding), Rodney felt a chill go down his spine.

~~~~~

So, Rodney followed the man that said he said was John Sheppard around the rest of the night and most of the next day. They played chess and watched movies on Sheppard's lap top. He certainly looked like John Sheppard, and sounded like John Sheppard, he was just... off. Rodney couldn't think of any other way to describe it. It was like sometimes he had to think to remember to how to be John Sheppard.

No one else would have noticed it. No one else *did* notice it. But Rodney had been watching John Sheppard since he sat down in that chair in Antarctica. He knew all of Sheppard's smiles and what he meant when he lifted his brow just *so*. Rodney knew each smirk and how to tell the difference if John was really relaxed or just looked like he was relaxed. Whenever the man who claimed to be John Sheppard would pause in that lackadaisical way he had, Rodney could tell it was because he wasn't certain of what he was supposed to do next. He'd always recover perfectly before anyone else caught on, but Rodney saw.

At dinner the next night, Sheppard turned to him and studied him for a moment with narrowed eyes before he asked, "Don't you have work of your own to do, McKay?"

"What?" Rodney had to think quickly. "You tired of me? I'm just trying to make sure you take it easy so the doc will let you back on duty."

Sheppard leaned back in his chair and his gaze pinned Rodney in his chair. "Tired of you?" Sheppard smiled, the real smile, not the one he used on natives that he was hoping wouldn't kill them. "I could never get tired of you, Rodney." He looked open and warm and it scared Rodney to death.

~~~~~

Rodney spent the next day trying to convince people that the man that looked like John Sheppard really wasn't John Sheppard. No one would listen to him.

"Rodney, I am afraid that this once, you are not correct," Teyla said, trying to kindly tell him that he was full of shit. "Of course it is John Sheppard." She was wearing her practice clothes and her hair was sweaty and damp from a practice session. "I have just been working with him and he has never been better with the stick fighting."

"Ah, ha," Rodney cried in triumph. "Sheppard hasn't practiced all week. How has he gotten better?"

"Rodney," Teyla patted him gently on the arm, "perhaps you should go see Dr. Heightmeyer and she can help you with this."

Rodney really didn't see how Heightmeyer was going to help him, but he decided Carson might be of assistance.

"Rodney, what are you getting on about?" Carson asked in flat out astonishment. "What do you mean 'is John Sheppard really John Sheppard?'?"

"Just he's acting kind of strange lately and I wondered if you could use some of these machines and make sure that he's really who he says he is."

Carson shook his head in exasperation, "Are you sure you didn't hit your head? Because you're sounding a bit touched to me. Of course John Sheppard is John Sheppard, I ran all the tests the day before yesterday, remember? They all came back one hundred percent positive John Sheppard."

Not even Elizabeth would listen to him.

"Rodney, I don't have time to help you in one of your games of retaliation against John. Although I don't see how convincing me that he's an alien imposter is funny." Her disapproving frown was the same one his mother used when she brought in the CIA after he'd built his bomb for the science fair. "Really, Rodney, don't you have work of your own to do?"

Rodney realized that it was up to him to prove that John wasn't who he said he was (and where was the real John Sheppard?).

~~~~~

And that's how he came to be standing in the gate room with a gun pointed at John Sheppard. The team had been cleared for duty and there was no way Rodney could let a false John Sheppard walk through the gate. There was no telling what havoc he'd been sent to create. For that matter there was no telling what havoc he'd been sent to create in *Atlantis*.

"Tell them," Rodney insisted, holding the gun on Sheppard steadily.

Even though Sheppard had a P-90 clipped to his tac vest he made no move for it. He kept his hands out in front of him where Rodney could see them. He smirked at Rodney which only made Rodney want to shoot him more.

"Sure, McKay, whatever you want," John said slowly. "What was I telling them again?"

Rodney gritted his teeth as he repeated for about the hundredth time, "You are telling them that you're not John Sheppard. Then you're going to tell them who you are and where the fuck the real John Sheppard is."

"Rodney," Elizabeth's voice from the balcony was hard and sharp. "What are you doing?"

"Don't try and stop me, Elizabeth," Rodney ground out. "We need to find out where the real John Sheppard is, right now. There's no telling what's happened to him and he's probably waiting for us to come get him while we're all sitting around here playing with his replacement. Now tell them." He leveled a glare on not-John that really should have incinerated him where he stood.

"Come on, McKay," Sheppard drawled, and it was really getting on Rodney's nerves how he sounded just like the real Sheppard, "you don't want to do this."

Rodney was very aware of all the people standing around them, frozen in place. They all thought he was the insane one and the sheer unfairness of it all made him want to scream.

"That's where you're wrong, Sheppard," his voice was shaking, but Rodney was pretty proud to see that the hand with the gun was steady. He felt, more than heard someone move, and Rodney swung around.

"Don't fucking move," he shouted. He fixed the marine who had been trying to inch stealthily towards him with a glare. "The only one I'm going to be shooting is Sheppard, so everyone else stay out of this."

Kate Heightmeyer appeared on the balcony then overlooking the gate room standing next to Elizabeth. Of course they called Heightmeyer. They were probably ready to shove him into a straightjacket. They were more ready to believe that he was insane than that they were wrong about Sheppard being Sheppard.

"Rodney, no," she cried down to him radiating earnestness in that creepy way she had, "Don't do this."

But Rodney was determined to prove it to all of them, especially himself, "It's the only way, Kate. I have to show you. I have to show all of you."

Then he heard the voice that chilled him to the core.

"McKay!" Ronon roared, coming down the stairs two at a time with Teyla right behind them. Shit, he thought he'd locked them in the gym where they couldn't interfere. Now his time was really up.

"Sorry, Sheppard," he said as he pulled the trigger.

Everyone moved at once, but it was too late. No one could stop the bullet from finding its target. It impacted with a spray of blood and Sheppard hit the ground at the same moment that the marine tackled Rodney wrestling the gun from his hand.

The gate room was in chaos as someone screamed for a medical team and Rodney tried to breathe with a marine pinning him to the ground. But he kept his eyes on Sheppard and he couldn't believe what he saw. He shoved at the marine.

"Get off of me, you moron, look at him."

Slowly, slowly, every eye turned to Sheppard who had sat up and was poking at the hole in his chest that was leaking blood all over the gate room floor.

"You shot me," he said with a look of stunned betrayal to Rodney.

Carson had arrived with the medical team and they stopped in astonishment at the sight of John Sheppard sitting up poking at a fatal gun shot wound to the chest. The marine rolled off of Rodney and helped him up before turning to Sheppard, his weapon out and aimed in the correct direction now.

"I told you," Rodney said. But he took no satisfaction from it. He'd actually been aiming for Sheppard's shoulder, hoping to make Beckett run more tests and find out the truth this time. It made Rodney sick to realize that if he'd been wrong and the person he shot really had been John Sheppard, he would be dead now. Rodney's knees gave out on him then and he was forced to sit back down as the room revolved around him.

"Holy crap," Carson breathed. "It's not John Sheppard?"

"I believe that's what I said," Rodney huffed before he drew up his knees and put his head down trying to get the room to stop spinning.

Lorne arrived then. Finally. He took the false Sheppard into custody while Carson and his team picked up Rodney and took him to the infirmary so the trip to the gateroom hadn't been completely wasted.

~~~~~

It turned out that not only was Rodney in shock from shooting the colonel, he hadn't eaten in way too long. Carson hooked him up to several IVs while Rodney lay in a daze, the refrain "I shot him, I shot him," running through his head. He might have thrown up at some point, but he was too out of it to remember clearly.

By the time he was feeling better again, or at least like he wasn't going to throw up on everyone in sight, some facts had been established. The Sheppard who had been walking around Atlantis for the last three days was not only an imposter, he was an android. An android so advanced that it passed every test Carson gave it and was indistinguishable from the real John Sheppard. The only reason they really knew for sure was because a gun shot wound to the heart hadn't killed it and it had confessed in the light of overwhelming evidence.

That fascinated McKay so much that he demanded to be let out of bed right then and there so he could study it. Of course Carson refused and Rodney sulked.

But when he heard that Lorne was taking a team back to M29-488 (which was where the android originated) to retrieve the flesh and blood John Sheppard, there was no way Carson was keeping Rodney in the bed. He had to be there, he insisted, because clearly he was the only one who knew the real Sheppard from the fake one.

Carson relented in the end and Rodney made it to the gate room just in time to intercept Lorne and his team as the gate was dialing.

"Glad you could make it, Rodney," Lorne said in that deceptively mild way he had.

The fake Sheppard was standing away from everyone else, looking rather desolate and grim. Rodney couldn't help it; he didn't like to see any John Sheppard looking that way.

"You're going home, you know," he told the not-Sheppard.

Sheppard's mouth took a downward turn and he wouldn't meet Rodney's gaze. "I don't know if they told you this, McKay, but I'm exactly John Sheppard's duplicate. This is my home."

It made Rodney's heart hurt a little to hear him say that, but he refused to let himself feel sorry for the copy.

"You can't just take over someone's life. What about the real John Sheppard?"

The copy did look over then and Rodney saw a glimpse of guilt in its eyes. "I didn't know at first that I wasn't the real John Sheppard," he said. "I knew something was off, but I couldn't figure out what. When I figured it out, I would have told you the truth. The people of M29-488 didn't know how close a duplicate I would be. I know about not leaving anyone behind and he's the one who deserves this life, not me."

Strangely enough, Rodney believed him.

"What did they want him for anyway?" Rodney asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"His gene," the android said. "It's the one thing they couldn't get from just having me. They intend to breed him with their woman so they'll have off-spring with the gene that they can use to operate the facility on the planet."

Rodney thought he was going to be sick again, right there all over the gate room. They had to get to Sheppard and they had to get him back now.

That seemed to be pretty much Lorne's plan as they all marched through the 'gate.

~~~~~

The villagers of M29-488 didn't seem to be so ready to let Sheppard go however. They greeted them amicably enough, but when they realized that their evil plan had been discovered and Lorne demanded to know the whereabouts of the real John Sheppard, things turned ugly.

Jowen, formerly a friendly smiling man was now wielding something that looked a lot like a pitchfork. It had four tines that appeared sharp and deadly enough to Rodney's eye.

"We gave you a Sheppard, he's exactly the same as the one we have," Jowen said in what he obviously thought was a calm, reasonable voice. "Take him and we'll let you leave without hurting any of you."

Rodney had had enough. These people didn't realize what they were up against and they needed to be told. He stepped forward, "Listen, we want our Sheppard back," he began. "Give him back and no one will get hurt."

Lorne and the marines certainly looked like they meant business with their P-90s at the ready. Of course the backwards residents of M29-488 had no idea of just what kind of damage those weapons could do, which was probably the reason they weren't properly cowed yet.

Jowen raised his pitchfork thing and rushed towards Rodney before he could say anything else. Rodney was frozen where he stood until someone impacted his body knocking him out of the way.

Rodney pushed himself up to see not-Sheppard on his knees with the tines of the pitchfork sticking out of his back. There were rivulets of blood that trickled down to drop into the dust. The gunshot wound hadn't phased him, but the pitchfork thing must have hit something more vital because he wasn't getting back up again. Jowen took a step back, jerking his nearly-a-pitchfork with him. The tines that were pulled out of not-Sheppard's body were gory with something that looked like blood.

"Shit." Rodney scrambled over to catch not-Sheppard as he crumpled forward. "Why did you do that?"

Not-Sheppard smiled at him, and Rodney could see the light fading from his eyes. "John Sheppard always protects Rodney McKay."

Then the light was gone and Sheppard was just a dead weight in Rodney's arms.

Lorne stepped between them, his P-90 raised.

"Dr. McKay, get out your life signs detector, that'll tell us where the colonel's being held," he commanded in a hard voice.

Rodney started to point out that it wouldn't give them specifics about whose life signs were whose when he saw every head swing around and look at a particular house.

Lorne just growled and stalked in that direction. The mob crowded in around him, trying to cut him off. He pointed the gun to the ground at their feet and sprayed it with a hail of bullets. They stopped abruptly, people running into one another as those in front of them stopped without warning. It would have been comical if Rodney hadn't wanted them all dead.

"We are going to go into that house and we are going to get our Colonel Sheppard and if any one of you try to stop us, you will be dead," Lorne told them.

The crowd shrank back from him, clearing a path for him.

Rodney gently lowered not-Sheppard's head to the ground. He felt heavier now that there was no life in him.

He was torn. He needed to go with Lorne and help rescue his friend, but he wanted to stay and honor this man who had just saved his life. There was a hand on his shoulder. Rodney looked up to see Teyla gazing down at him, there was kindness in her eyes.

"Go," she said, "I will stay with him."

Rodney nodded gratefully and scrambled to his feet. He and Ronon followed Lorne and the marines. The people didn't try to stop them. They stepped away just as they had for Lorne.

They approached the house carefully not wanting to spook whoever was inside. It was quiet and there was no sign of what kind of reception they would have.

Lorne tapped on the door. There was no answer. He pushed the door and it swung open. Rodney craned his neck trying to see inside, but it was dark.

Lorne nodded to his marines and went in, followed closely by one of the marines. It was only Ronon's grip on Rodney's arm that kept him outside. He strained against the grip, needing to be inside.

When his radio crackled to life, it nearly scared Rodney to death, "McKay, Ronon get in here. Everyone else stay out."

That was all it took, Rodney was in the door with Ronon close behind him. He had to pause a moment once he was over the threshold, for his eyes to adjust. What he saw was appalling.

There was a huge bed in the middle of the room and John was laid out there naked, tied hand and foot to the four corners of the bed. There was the sound of weeping as several women stood in the shadows clutching each other. There were all half dressed.

An imposing woman, an older matronly type, stood next to the bed between Lorne and Sheppard. She frowned at Lorne.

"You must not touch him," she said, appalled by the very idea, "we have just finished the cleansing ritual. We will have to start all over again and it will be three more days before we may have his seed."

Sheppard was pulling at the restraints and moaning, Rodney didn't think it was because he was in pain. He lifted his head and caught Rodney's eyes.

"God, McKay," he said. "Get me out of here."

"We're working on it, sir," Lorne assured him.

"They haven't...?" Rodney couldn't bring himself to finish his question, but Sheppard knew what he was asking.

He shook his head, "No, but you're just in the nick of time. I think I was the main course at dinner tonight. Can you get me free?" he asked the room at large.

Rodney took a step forward to help, when several women threw themselves on him. Even though they were half dressed, Rodney couldn't bring himself to wish circumstances were different. Everything was so wrong. Only in the Pegasus Galaxy would they think it was okay to kidnap a man, make a copy of him and rape him in order to propagate their species.

"Don't even," he growled at the women who were tugging at him, trying to keep him away from Sheppard. Then Ronon was there, pulling them off him bodily and holding them at bay. He handed a knife to Rodney, hilt first.

"Thanks... uhm... thanks," he said. He crawled onto the bed doing his best to ignore the very naked Sheppard on the bed. It was hard because whatever the 'ritual cleansing' involved it had left Sheppard very aroused. No wonder the women were weeping.

"Hey," Sheppard said when Rodney bent over his wrists to saw at the ropes there. Sheppard's wrists were abraded were the rope had been cutting into them and now they were slick with blood. Between the blood and the tightness of the knots, it was going to take Ronon's knife to get Sheppard free.

"You really are the Kirk of the Pegasus Galaxy, aren't you?" Rodney muttered half-heartedly as he worked on the ropes. He knew it wasn't Sheppard's fault he was in his current predicament. But Rodney was trying desperately to make things as normal as possible. "Can we get his clothes?" Rodney twisted around to glare at the matron who still stood next to the bed. Rodney didn't like her there, he wanted her gone.

"Sure, Doc, good idea," Lorne said, "we'll get right on that." He put a hand on her arm and started to steer her toward the exit. She tried to jerk her arm away, but Lorne wasn't letting go.

"And get everyone else out of here," Rodney growled as one of the women got past Ronon and threw herself bodily on Sheppard. Rodney dropped the knife and wrestled her away from him which pretty much put Rodney in Sheppard's lap.

Sheppard moaned and panted, "McKay!"

Rodney rolled off the bed, taking the woman with him. He handed her over to Ronon, then he stalked over the window and pulled the curtain aside. The heavy outer curtain covered a lighter one that lined the window. He gave a jerk and pulled the curtain down. He carried it back to use as a blanket to drape over Sheppard's body.

The women didn't put up much of a fight once Sheppard was covered. They let Ronon herd them out. Lorne took the matron and marched her out to get Sheppard's clothes leaving Rodney and John alone.

"Thanks," Sheppard gasped out even as his hips jerked at the friction provided by the heavy curtain. Sheppard was in a bad way. Rodney licked his lips trying to concentrate on the ropes and only the ropes. Getting Sheppard free was his only concern. If he kept telling himself that he might eventually believe it.

"Yeah," Rodney said as he attacked the ropes with renewed determination.

By the time Rodney had the ropes cut, Sheppard's clothes appeared. He dressed slowly, the mere touch of the fabric making him pant and moan. When Rodney put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, Sheppard practically growled at him, "Don't touch me."

Rodney pulled his hand back as if burned.

"Sorry," Sheppard got out, "It's just..."

"Yeah, I get it," Rodney told him.

Finally. Finally Sheppard was dressed and they were ready to go. They stepped out of the house to find it was surrounded by the townspeople. The marines on the porch were tense not knowing what to do.

"Easy," Lorne told them. They formed in a tight group around Sheppard who walked hunched over, kind of like an arthritic old man. Rodney grasped his elbow firmly, and, after the first flinching response, Sheppard let it stay.

The people didn't stop them, opening up before them again. They got to the place where not-Sheppard lay staring at the sky with dead eyes. The real Sheppard sucked in a breath. Lorne nodded at two of the marines, instructing them to carry him back. They didn't leave their people behind.

Slowly they made their way to the gate and through, leaving behind M29-488.

~~~~~

Once they were home, Carson was able to relieve the worst of Sheppard's symptoms. He made him stay in the infirmary (in a private room) for the next three days just to make sure all the drugs were out of his system. It made Sheppard a little crazy, he didn't like being on display and the *last* three days of his life had been his worst nightmare come true. But he didn't complain (too much).

Rodney brought him his lap top and sat whenever possible just watching him to satisfy himself that they had the real John Sheppard this time. He couldn't explain it, what the difference was. But he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the man they'd brought home *was* John Sheppard.

"Why did it take you three days to come get me?" Sheppard asked as they sat eating lunch.

Rodney glanced up in surprise, "They didn't tell you that there was an android copy of you?"

Sheppard's eyes widened and understanding dawned. "I was kind of out of it. They pumped me so full of drugs for their 'ritual cleansing'," he explained. "All I knew was that they wanted my gene. They kept assuring me that I would have great pleasure in the giving." He shuddered.

Rodney looked away trying not to think of Sheppard naked and tied spread-eagled on the bed. No one should have that picture of their best friend in their head.

"So, uhm... android copy?" Sheppard asked at last. His quirked eyebrow was exactly John Sheppard.

Rodney shrugged, "They thought they could pass off an inferior copy of you." He remembered holding the android's body as the life left it.

"But it took you three days to figure it out?" Sheppard teased. All that was left on his lunch tray was the butterscotch pudding.

"I knew right away," Rodney said, "it just took me three days to convince the rest of the clowns around here. You going to eat that?" He pointed to the butterscotch pudding.

Without a word Sheppard slid it over to Rodney. There was a moment of icy terror when Rodney couldn't figure out how they'd switched Sheppards on him.

Then Sheppard smirked and pulled the pudding from Rodney's unresisting fingers. "Get your own," he said.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta chocolatephysicist. Any mistakes remaining are my own.


End file.
